This We'll Defend

There were worse times in history

Didn't know he was so problematic :/

We here at Memebase feel that history memes are a special breed. I usually have one of two reactions to them. A knowing smirk, chuckle, or nod at a meme dealing with history that I'm well-versed in. Shock, horror, and an hour-long voracious time-traveling trip through the depths of Wikipedia. Generally speaking, I mostly react in the former manner. It's good to feel smart. But every now and then a meme will introduce me to an era, event, or cultural tidbit that just leaves me feeling ill, but a…

It's true that the past however thousands of years have blessed us with technologies from the wheel to our iPhones. But there's also been a lot of bad sh*t to come out of these technologies and relative progress of humanity. Weapons, war, racism, genocide, etc etc. The people of the past, whether on the “good side” or “bad sides” of history, would probably balk at the fact that we're sitting here looking at memes about their trials and tribulations. Or at least we hope they would. That said, it…

When I was a sullen teenager with a vintage clothing addiction and an ever-growing record collection, I would often find myself thinking “I wasn't made for these times.” I likened myself to an old soul - world-weary and wise, with a timeless charm and worldly intellect. While some of this is probably thanks to living in New York City, a cultural mecca of sorts, I was also just…dumb. What times did I really think I was made for? The Great Depression? Did I think I would be better suited to the d…

It's easy to idealize the past when the present is, um, lacking. Maybe that's why nostalgia is so present in media. We're not just talking about those ‘90s kids memes . We're talking about all the music that

You don't have to crack open a textbook or a non-fiction account of some historical event to indulge in a little history. Right now, it's perfectly understandable that any of us would want to escape the present with a little trip to the past. But what if we told you that the journey through time could be one that is humorous in nature? I know, we're blowing your minds right now. But it's true. All you have to do to enjoy some historical teachings and humor is scroll through some history memes .…

Whether you love to laugh at the past or fact-check dubious history memes in your spare time, we've got a bunch of amusing content right here for history buffs and novices alike.

I guess I need to admit that we don't all have the urge to watch gruesome, bleak, and violent war movies and read books about statecraft and strategy. I fully recognize that as a 34-year-old woman, this may be considered an odd passion or pastime. But if you, too, watched Band of Brothers as many times as I have, you can definitely understand the fascination with brave American paratroopers descending through a smoke-filled night sky in France. At the very least, one must have some admiration f…

LOL

It is time for a history lesson! Do you know anything about the origin of the memes you consume to make life more tolerable? The truth is that memes aren't just funny pictures you find on Reddit or Memebase. Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins originally introduced the term "meme" back in 1976, and it obviously had nothing to do with the internet A meme, by Dawkins' definition (via the Oxford Dictionary) is "An element of a culture or system of behaviour passed from one individual to another…

Did you know that Ernest Hemingway used to shoot sharks with a tommy gun while fishing for marlins? Neither did I until I found @weird_hist, a Twitter account that drops random little-known historical tidbits and fascinating images from the past. Each one of @weird_hist's tweets is a gateway to a historical k-hole. First, you'll naturally want to fact-check the information. Did the CIA really equip cats with radio transmitters to try and spy on the Soviets? From there you're just a few more clic

We're probably not alone in feeling like history class is, well, ancient history at this point. While we enjoyed tales of social justice and exploration (and balked at tragic plagues and bloody wars), our brains haven't really held on to many of the details. Fortunately, history memes have a way of reminding us of all those sentences we highlighted in our textbooks. They provide us with the feeling of being smart as we recall the strategies of Genghis Khan, or revel in the fact that there was e…

It is said that history repeats itself. And judging by the current turmoil in Russian and Ukraine, and the consistent shit show pretty much everywhere else, the statement does bear some truth. For all the world's technological advancements, hard-learned lessons, and brutal wars, we can't seem to get past the scourges of intolerance, hatred, and greed. While this senseless repetition is exhausting to witness in real time, it's a bit less torturous when it's expressed in the form of memes. Histor…

What do we do in times of international crisis, impending doom, and possibly the threat of world war? Meme about it of course! If you haven't heard, there's trouble brewing (once again) in Eastern Europe as Russia gears up to "perform peacekeeping functions" in the separatist republics of eastern Ukraine . Plebs like us are mostly just confused, but that doesn't mean we can't make dumb jokes and memes about an international crisis whose complex history dates back to the Cold War. If you feel to…